trinityvixen | Seido Women's Seminar 2003

Yes, the second day was pretty tame, I gather, in comparison to the Saturday part of the karate seminar. Good food though! Woo hoo was there ever! I felt bad I could only contribute cookies, but there was goodies all over the place. It's the most vegetarian I've ever eaten, to be honest. People who can bake/cook kick ass.

Senpai Kitty was visiting from New York via Japan (she's doing a non-JET English program), and she went through lots of self-defence and point-sparring. She had loads of stories about full and semi-contact fighting, neither of which sounds like anything I'd be good at. We got to watch the senpais and the advanced yellow belts and above go at it, though, which kicked arse as well. The rest of us were busy learning how to call points and such. That was keen, although it was really hard to tell most of the time--either they'd look like they'd hit at the same time or I couldn't see or I saw something that was completely not what anyone else saw. Good fun all around, good practice and the proof that I am most definitely going to stick with the sport!

Oh, right, then there was the BOARD BREAKING. heeheehee...

So, Senpai Kinga, who is a second Dan blackbelt at like 19 (yeah, very intimidating), went after Senpai Vicki, breaking two boards after she couldn't do three. We went sort of through the ranks, but it was mostly informal. A blue belt girl broke with a kick, but most people just wailed on the board with their fist. Eventually, was just me, Alex, and Fiona. I really really wanted to break, I was just terrible nervous because I was convinced I'd be the only one who couldn't. Fortunately, (well, not for her) an advanced brown belt actually failed to break two boards, so that broke the tension, and I went ahead and tried.

HEEEEE-YAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

....oh, that was my victory, uh, is it 'ki aye'? The sound you make when you hit. Oh, and that was followed with the board breaking rather nicely.

TEEEE!!!!

I broke the board, I kick ass! The board also smells nice along the edge of the break, which I sat and sniffed because I was already loopy on the fact that I broke some wood. Now, if ever I'm attacked by a board pointing at me with the grain upwards and positioned just barely on two cement blocks, I'll be sure to just wind up and practice a lot and then BREAK IT IN HALF. The fun part will be sneaking it past customs. Then I can make into my own little wooden boy a la The Tick. Senpai Kitty broke the board by driving her fist downwards into the board at the end (we hit with the side of the fist), which was a great finish to the posed blocks. After that, the Senpais held the block up and Senpai Kinga kicked one in half and a few students broke them with elbows. These women are hyper cool! Pictures capped off a perfect day. (well, until I had to go write a paper :P)

Also, there's a chance a could grade. They had sign up sheets out, and I was tempted to ask about signing up, but Nicole had said that she thought it was a 'they ask you to grade' thing. I would love to love to love to love to grade...I wish also they graded like Ju Jitsu grades--because I'm a white belt and I seriously know enough to be grading to blue instead of just advanced white. Of course, I say that, but advanced white is for the polishing up and making better. The Senpais keep having to tell me to relax my shoulders of late, and I know I don't know all the Japanese...but the 9th kyu syllabus seriously only adds all of maybe 5 things for me to learn, all of which I've done, and I'm getting even better at the kata! I could even do it tonight without too much thinking. But Senpai Kitty says to try going to Honbu when I get back to New York, and I would seriously love to! I would love love love to have a color belt in my life, even if the blue belt I get never goes any farther...

Siiiiigh, don't want to do work...but karate fun is over now...